It's been years since I've watched Scorsese's Last Temptation, and Joyce was keen to see firsthand what all the controversy was about. She had a very religious upbringing which extended well into her adult life and is well versed in bible stories, so it was very enlightening to have her alongside to separate "fact" from fiction for me.
The film begins with Jesus' adult life as a carpenter and follows his progression from self-realization as an unlikely messiah to death on the cross. However it's the balance between human and divine that Scorsese seemed most eager to explore and he did so by filtering the story through the interrelationships of Jesus with Mary Magdelene and Judas, brilliantly played by Willem Dafoe, Barbara Hershey and Harvey Keitel, respectively.
The story travels through several familar biblical events, all depicted with a gritty, human reality, to the inevitable, gruelling crucifixion (no whistling here, folks). But it was the subsequent coda of the last temptation that enraged Christian zealots the world over. I won't spoil it for those who have yet to see the film but, if you have any interest in Christianity, it deserves to be seen. Based on Joyce's reaction, chances are you won't be offended regardless which side of the theological fence you sit on.
The DVD ain't no Blu-ray but, as always, Criterion does a fine job, and the disc includes a very informative commentary among other features.
After spending a good amount of time with this game (but alas, not as much as I would like!), I am happy to report that the NCAA Football series is back in a big, big way. This version blows all others on this current generation of consoles completely out of the water. That's not to say it doesn't have a few niggling problems that will hopefully be addressed in a patch, but that game plays incredibly well as it is now, after having already been patched on release-day. Here are the major positives and negatives from the game:
Positives:
The graphics and animations in this game are off the chart. They simply must be seen to be believed. Even average, ordinary plays are filled with animations so like-like that you find yourself reviewing them over and over. The replays are wonderful as well, shown from a new Broadcast Camera (other camera views are available as well) that takes you right into the action. You can really get lost in the game and find yourself completely immersed in the world of college football. Amazing. Check out this replay of a rather ordinary play, a 16 yard pass completion:
Check out the animations. From the initial camera angle behind the QB, see the receiver leap for the ball, which is thrown high and slightly behind him. See how fluid his leap is, how realistic it looks? You really see him push off to get airborne. Suddenly the camera angle changes and now it is isolated on the receiver. You see him time his leap, make the catch, set his feet to run and then get swallowed up by defenders. It's a simple play, it's life-like and it's a thing of beauty. The new progressive lighting system works beautifully as well, giving some really striking settings at game time.
The running game has been significantly improved by enhancements made in the blocking AI. Now guards will pull effectively, fullbacks will hit someone on lead blocks and real holes will emerge. You can run inside or outside and the effectiveness is based on a combination of your skills as a gamer and the ratings of your players versus those of your opponent.
The passing game has been tweaked for more realism. No longer are all incomplete passes the result of balls either being dropped by receivers or batted down by defenders. Passes are now realistically under thrown, over thrown or the timing may simply be off.
The "120 ways to win" stuff works as advertised. Every teams runs it's real offense and at the real tempo. You'll see Michigan run the no-huddle spread, tiring out the defenses by not allowing time for substitutions. You'll see Nevada run their funky Pistol formation and UCLA run their pro offense. It's awesome to behold.
The atmosphere has been taken up a few notches as well. Finally there is a real college atmosphere at the games. The crowd is livelier, the bands peppier and the presentation (by ESPN) is more professional.
Dynasty mode has been much improved because recruiting is no longer the monotonous chore it used to be. EA has made it more interactive and much more engaging. I used to despise recruiting. Now I actually enjoy it, which makes Dynasty mode the most rewarding career mode in any sports game, in my opinion.
You can have an online dynasty same as last year. But new this year is the ability to manage your team online from outside the game. You can now do your recruiting from your computer or iPhone. This is a tremendous new feature that I hope EA will have in all future sports games. And what's even better is that you can have your own single player online dynasty. You can have all the features of online dynasty while still playing by yourself. Too sweet.
Teambuilder remains an absolutely addictive addition, where you can custom create your own schools and play them in any mode in the game. I have spent many, many hours on my four teams (that's my Affton Cougars in their 1st alternate uniforms in the video above) and I love seeing them in action on the field. There is a great community on the Operation Sports forums that will assist you in making the uniforms you want. Trust me when I say I have benefited greatly from their generosity. If you have the Xbox 360 version, look up my teams under my gamer tag, Quint75, and let me know what you think!
Negatives:
In a game where so much detail has been lovingly recreated, it is just plain silly that the uniforms do not get dirty. Not in the rain, not in the mud. Speculation is that this may have been sacrificed to keep the frame rate up to snuff. Whatever the reason, it's silly. But I must say it does not bother me nearly as much as I thought it would when I first heard about it in the early reviews.
The set of sliders given to help tweak game play is pretty darned generous and for once they actually seem very effective right out of the box. But why oh why does EA make everything adjustable by sliders except fumble frequency and injury frequency? They do this every year. You can adjust the frequency of interceptions, but not fumbles? Makes no sense. Never has, never will.
The blocking on kickoff returns leaves much to be desired. Neither the CPU nor myself can muster any sort of nice returns; the ball carrier is met by tacklers almost immediately.
By far my biggest complain with the game is the AI of the CPU ball carriers. There are a number of specific problems that keep them from being anywhere near as effective as they should be, which is a real shame as the blocking is done so well. Don't get me wrong, the CPU can and will get an effective ground game going against you. They will even beat you with it. But it still is not what it should be. To sum up the main problem, the CPU doesn't handle open space properly. For example, a RB will burst through the hole and have only the DBs to deal with. Rather than kicking into that extra gear, he may do a number of things that will take away what could have been a game breaking run. He may juke for no reason, slowing him down and allowing him to be caught from behind. He may keep the ball covered with both hands even though he is in the clear, which causes him to run much slower than if he was sprinting, again allowing him to be caught more easily. He may have a clear path if he would veer toward the sideline, but he doesn't; he cuts back inside. It can be really obvious at times, and frustrating for someone who sometimes likes to just do the recruiting and let the CPU play the games out on the field by itself. However, there is reason to be cautiously optimistic that this can and will be fixed with a patch. A few years ago, an NCAA game was released with this very same issue and it was improved via a patch. I can't recall if it completely fixed the problem or not, but I do remember it was much improved. Hopefully EA is getting an earful about this issue and will address it in an upcoming patch. If so, this game will simply be unreal.
As it is right now, I would say it is still the best looking, best playing football game I have had the pleasure of getting my mitts on. It has everything you could ever want: great game play, depth, superior visuals and audio (even if the play-by-play is getting beyond stale at this point, and this without Lee Corso in the booth) and the fun factor is through the roof. Right now NCAA football rates an extremely impressive 9.2 out of 10 for me. And it may get better yet.
In the meantime, here are 2 more videos to keep you satisfied, both of which once again show off the Broadcast replay cam. The first shows a nice QB animation as he completes a pass on a rollout. Notice how fluid his throwing motion is and how he seems to actually put force behind the throw. And I love how he subtly uses his arms to regain his balance after making the throw.
In the 2nd video, notice the QB starts off with a fake hand-off in play action. The camera then shifts to the safety, again at the start of the play, and you see him bite on the fake and then get beaten for the TD. Beautiful!
Another horror classic from the '80's, this one a re-imagining of the original through the twisted mind of David Cronenberg. Actually, that's probably not a fair comment in this case since, at its core, The Fly is perhaps the most humanistic of all his films. The relationship between Jeff Goldblum's obsessed scientist/inventor and Geena Davis' ambitious journalist is the thread that ties the film together from beginning to end, even after things begin to go horribly awry. In some ways, it may not even be fair to label The Fly a horror film (science fiction may be more apt), though the grotesque special effects may leave you thinking otherwise. But in spite of it all, it's Goldblum and Davis who create the emotional resonance that makes The Fly so special.
Like The Shining, The Fly is given a very nice treatment on Blu-ray. Visually, it doesn't have quite the wow factor of The Shining but, make no mistake, this is still a very, very good transfer. And the audio track is surprisingly powerful, especially for a 25 year old film. A highly recommended upgrade or addition to your library.
Stanley Kubrick's adapation of The Shining was initially greeted with extreme disappointment by fans of the novel, but in the 30 years since its release, has become appreciated as a classic of the horror genre. Without the advantage of modern CGI technology, it was through camera and character that Kubrick created the isolation and claustrophobia that lead to the terror of Jack Torrance's descent into madness.
At this point, I think I've owned just about every home video version of The Shining that's been released and in all aspect ratios (4:3, 1.66:1, 1.85:1). I thought the Kubrick Collection DVD was extremely well done and, to be honest, didn't expect the Blu-ray release to be much of an improvement. Wrong. The visual presentation, while not quite reference quality, easily exceeds that of many current films. Kubrick's primary colour palette is brought to eye-popping life with remarkable detail throughout. Unfortunately, there's only so much you can do with a 30 year soundtrack. It's thin and weak but cranking the volume fills things out to acceptable levels. All things considered, this is an absolute must-own for fans of the film.
Back following a too long hiatus with the first in a series of recaps of some films we've watched over the last six weeks or so...
In preparation for the Season 3 premiere back in June, we burned through the Season 2 the week beforehand. While I enjoyed the second season the first time around, it ultimately failed to expand on the promise of Season 1. The first season centered in and around the town of Bon Temps, and there was a certain voodoo mystique and sense of discovery that wasn't sustained throughout Season 2. Instead, the elements of the story veered into camp and, while great fun, ultimately over-reached itself.
On second viewing, however, I came away with a much greater appreciation for Season 2. Sure, the Mary-Anne storyline was taken past the point of no return, but Jason's foray into the Fellowship of the Sun was hilariously entertaining, as was his unlikely alliance and friendship with Andy Bellefleur. But there was also much more visceral excitement and dramatic depth to Season 2 than I'd remembered, most notably the story around Eric's maker, Goderich. Season 2 also serves to establish several plot point that have proven important to the story as it unfolds in Season 3 (which has been fabulous through four episodes).
The Blu-ray presentation of True Blood is an absolute treat. As terrific as the show looks in HD, the Blu-ray is a noticeable cut above. Most scenes look jaw-droppingly good, with a few exhibiting noticeable grain that gives the picture a film-like appearance rather than detracting from it. The visuals are ably supported by a surprisingly powerful and active surround mix. The package is topped offer with a bevy of bonus materials including several entertaining commentary tracks, and an hour and fifteen minute panel discussion featuring series creator Alan Ball and all of the regular cast. A very impressive box set on every level.
Congratulations to Spain, the 2010 World Cup champs. I was pulling mighty hard for Holland, but Spain was clearly the better side. They were the aggressors the entire match and really controlled play all day, especially at midfield. Even so, Holland had 2 golden opportunities to steal the game in the second half, but winger Arjen Robben, who had an otherwise magnificent tournament, couldn't quite finish on 2 glorious chances. Holland played aggressive defense that included a lot of physicality and fouls. Nigel de Jong planted a foot right into the chest of Spain's Xabi Alonso and by all rights should have been sent off with a red card.
Spain continued to press, even late in the game when many teams would have been content to try their luck in a penalty kick shootout. It turned out to be a very wise decision, as the late goal in extra time gave them their first World Cup. It also saved us the pain of seeing another World Cup decided by penalty kicks, so major kudos to Spain for that as well. By the time the winning goal came, Netherlands was playing shorthanded, having lost John Heitinga (deservedly) after he picked up his second yellow card. It was only a matter of time before Netherlands was going to have to play shorthanded; the way they attacked Spain physically was going to cost them in due time.
So congrats again to Spain, deserving World Cup champs!
A very positive and thorough review. Essential reading for any sports gamer. It seems as though EA has finally hit pay dirt on the current generation of consoles with the NCAA series and I could not be more excited. I'll have to wait until Tuesday for my copy and my anticipation is at a fever pitch.
- Netherlands defeated Uruguay 3-2 today to advance to the World Cup final. I have been rooting for them all along (they have long been my favorite international team) and now they are just one step away. My 2nd favorite team, Germany, plays Spain for the other spot in the final. Germany is playing brilliant soccer right now and if they get by Spain they will be favored to win the Cup. Netherlands was quite sloppy with the ball today, especially late in the first half through midway in the second half. That will not get the job done against either Germany or a very talented Spain. I am hoping the boys can tighten things up a bit before the final. As for my other 2 favorite teams, England and the United States, well, the less said the better.
-NCAA Football 11 is one week away from release. I am totally amped up for this game and have very high hopes for it. I have my 4 custom teams all ready to go (go to username Quint75 on the Xbox 360 version of Team Builder to find them) and of course the Maize and Blue of Michigan will get a thorough workout as well. It will be a little while before the community rosters are finished being named and adjusted, but once that starts it will be Dynasty Mode city. Especially nice is the ability to do all of your Dynasty Mode stuff online now, including over your iPhone. Hot tamale!
-My wife and I have started a new 4th of July tradition which I am embarrassed to say should have started about 25 years ago: we will now watch Jaws every July 4th. After all, a great deal of it takes part over the July 4th holiday. Plus it's been my favorite movie since I was 9 years old. I give full credit to Barb for the idea of making this a tradition. And I smack myself in the head because I did not think of it first. As a certified Jaws fanatic, I hang my head in shame.
-Watched a few more movies in the last couple of days. Here are some quick ratings, on a scale of 1-10:
Jaws - 10 (duh!)
Cobb - 6.5
Session 9 - 7.0
Zombieland - 7.5 (but quite entertaining)
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made - 5.0 (ironic, huh?)
Tales From The Script - 7.0
That's it for now. Go Germany tomorrow and Go Netherlands on Sunday!
